Followup. Severely EFL.
The Iraqi National Symphony performed for President Bush and a large audience Tuesday night, presenting another side of the nation whose image is shaped by daily reports of combat and death.
Didn’t know GWB would be there. Bravo for him.
The 63-member Iraqi group was joined by the Washington National Symphony Orchestra at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. Leonard Slatkin, music director of the Washington Symphony, shared the stage with Iraqi conductor Mohammed Amin Ezzat in leading the combined orchestra through six pieces, one composed by Ezzat. Cello virtuoso Yo-Yo Ma also performed with the orchestras. Secretary of State Colin Powell called the performance the "historic re-entry of the Iraqi culture on the world stage." He hosted the performance, which was sponsored by State Department. Top members of the Bush administration and Rend Rahim, Iraq’s representative in Washington, joined Bush in the presidential box. The orchestra’s members include players of both Islam’s main sects, Shiite and Sunni, and of Kurdish, Armenian, Assyrian, Iraqi Christian and Turkman descent.
Golly gosh, you don’t suppose Iraqi society could end up performing together like this?
| I have a hard time picturing sectarian shootouts over the interpretation of Mahler's 7th. Music is its own religion. |
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